There was such a founding general, he was extremely idealistic, dared to be a man of temperament, but also a sharp, unruly "spokesman", he has been regarded by everyone as "an alternative in the Communist Party" since his youth, Deng Xiaoping commented on him: "There are very few people in the army who cannot afford to provoke, and you are one of them!" Ye Jianying commented, "You are covered in thorns!" ”
I believe that all the officials have already guessed that this founding general is Zhang Aiping, who has had many ups and downs in his life, but he has always loved and hated clearly, and always maintained his original intention.
In July 1977, Ye Jianying wanted to ask Xu Liqing, deputy director of the General Political Department, to be a lobbyist to invite Zhang Aiping to work in the National Defense Science and Technology Commission again, but Xu Liqing's "three Gu Maolu" were all rejected, and Ye Jianying could not sit still, and personally came to the door to invite Zhang Aiping. ”
Figure | Xu Liqing
So, what kind of legendary life experience does Zhang Aiping have, what contributions has he made to the country, and why does Ye Jianying insist on inviting him out of the mountains? Today we will talk about Zhang Aiping's "promotion record"!
Zhang Aiping summed up her life in her later years: My life was divided into two or thirty years, from participating in the revolution in 1925 to 1956, I mainly engaged in revolutionary struggle and military work, and from 1956 to 1987, I retired, basically paying close attention to national defense science and technology and the field of national defense industry.
Let's start with a brief review of Zhang Aiping's first thirty years. Born in Sichuan, a large inland revolutionary province, Zhang Aiping was exposed to advanced revolutionary ideas since childhood, and at the age of 15 he threw himself into the revolutionary wave. After Chiang Kai-shek launched a counter-revolutionary coup, Zhang Aiping was not afraid, still actively organized students and the masses to engage in revolutionary activities, during which she was twice arrested and imprisoned by foreign patrol police and Kuomintang reactionary security forces, but Zhang Aiping adhered to the faith of the revolutionaries, calmly and calmly maneuvered and confronted the enemy, and maintained revolutionary integrity.
When he was rescued from prison and then arrived in the Central Soviet Region, his superiors assigned him to the management of the Red Army, and was assigned to the position of squad leader of the Red 14th Army.
During the Long March, he served as the political commissar of the regiment, the political commissar of the division and regiment, and other positions, broke through the four blockade lines set up by the Nationalist army in the vanguard troops, participated in a series of battles such as the four crossings of Chishui, the brave capture of Loushan Pass, and the great battle of Laoya Mountain.
After the outbreak of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression in an all-round way, Zhang Aiping was entrusted by Chairman Mao to organize guerrilla warfare between the army and the people in the Shanghai-Nanjing-Hangzhou area; along with the needs of the struggle situation, her superiors asked Zhang Aiping to be in charge of the work of the New Fourth Army, and in the anti-sweeping struggle in the Yanfu area, she used flexible and changeable tactics to lead the army and the people to completely annihilate more than 20,000 Japanese puppet troops.
Beginning in September 1944, Zhang Aiping served as the commander of the 4th Division of the New Fourth Army, leading his troops to fight in a vast area of the Jinpu Line, fighting continuously, recovering many lost places, and making important contributions to strengthening the strength of our army and winning the final victory in the War of Resistance Against Japan.
Figure | Zhang Aiping
Originally thought that he could continue to show his skills in the Liberation War, but the day did not go according to people's wishes, at the beginning of the outbreak of the Liberation War, Zhang Aiping was seriously wounded in the head in the battle to command the troops to break the stubborn enemy of the Jinpu Railway, the blood was direct, limited by the medical conditions at that time, he came to the Soviet Union for treatment, and when his body basically recovered and returned to China, it was already the end of 1948, when the Liberation War entered the stage of strategic counteroffensive, he wanted to find a front-line post.
Before the outbreak of the Battle of The Crossing River, the Central Military Commission decided to form a naval and air force unit, and Chairman Mao, taking into account that Zhang Aiping had built the first cavalry unit of our army during the Red Army period and had commanded the Battle of Hongze Lake during the War of Resistance Against Japan, let him take full responsibility for the construction of the East China Navy.
Zhang Aiping is a famous "dry duck" in our army and knows nothing about ship knowledge, but he resisted the pressure to recruit talents and recruit talents, unite and educate the former nationalist rebel naval personnel, strengthen the construction of rules and regulations, and from scratch, founded our army's first naval school and the first naval technical research and guidance institute, laying a solid foundation for our army's subsequent naval construction.
Only after actual combat testing can any unit know what its combat strength is, and the Kuomintang reactionaries who have retreated to Taiwan still firmly occupy a series of coastal islands on the mainland, such as Zhoushan Islands, Dachen Island, and Yijiangshan Island, by virtue of their naval and air superiority, and there is always the possibility of using the islands as a springboard to threaten the new Chinese regime.
At that time, Chiang Kai-shek, with the support of the United States, often fired cannons at the mainland areas on coastal islands, posing a huge threat to the various constructions of New China.
Dachen Island is called the gateway to Taiwan, and Yijiangshan Island is the barrier of Dachen Island, taiwan's high-ranking Yu Dawei described: "A river is not protected, Dachen is difficult to defend; Dachen is not guaranteed, Taiwan is in danger!" "It can be seen that the importance of Yijiangshan Island and Dachen Island, Yijiangshan Island has no residents, only more than 1,000 Nationalist soldiers are stationed here, and the fire points of the US army and the Nationalist army are scattered on it, forming a layer of defense network.
After carefully studying and judging the battlefield, Zhang Aiping came to an important conclusion: The US military has already experienced the greatness of our army on the Korean battlefield, and now that the smoke of war in the DPRK has just dissipated, the US military that has suffered hardships will never dare to have a large-scale conflict with our army again.
Zhang Aiping asked her superiors for war, but the East China Military Region was jealous of the strength of the US army and refused to approve it for a long time; Zhang Aiping directly crossed the level and reported the battle plan to Peng Dehuai, who, after reading it, felt that the analysis was reasonable, and handed it over to Chairman Mao for approval. ”
Figure | Chairman Mao
On August 25, 1954, the People's Liberation Army set up the first army, navy and air force coordinated combat command organization, Zhang Aiping as commander, for decades, our army suffered from the lack of navy and air force units, was ruthlessly "ravaged" by the national army, and now our army is at its peak, firmly controlling air and sea control, our aviation force dispatched a total of 86 sorties of aircraft, shot down 10 enemy aircraft, the navy appeared after the appearance of the sinking and wounding of 5 enemy ships, a Jiangshan Island suddenly lost foreign aid, our military aircraft immediately launched a carpet bombing of a Jiangshan Island. Destroyed a large number of enemy fortifications, bringing great psychological shadows to the enemy.
At 8:00 a.m. on January 18, 1955, the Battle of Yijiangshan Island was officially launched, and under the joint attack of our army's unprecedentedly powerful army, navy and air force, the island's defense fell apart, and in just 10 hours, our army completely occupied Yijiangshan Island and annihilated 1,086 enemy troops.
The next day, the Xinhua News Agency broadcast to the whole world the achievements of our army's first coordinated operation of the three armed services, shocking the world; Chiang Kai-shek was frightened and pale after hearing the news; he did not expect that our army's first three services would be able to achieve such great results in the first coordinated operation of the three services, and Dachen Island would probably not be able to keep it.
In 1955, when the whole army was awarded the first major title, Zhang Aiping was awarded the rank of general, and with his years of achievements, this rank is well deserved.
It seems that Zhang Aiping's first thirty years were brilliant enough, but looking at the second half of his life, it is almost certain that he was a leading figure in the mainland's national defense science and technology and the "two bombs and one satellite" cause, and it is precisely with his participation that he can escort the cause of national defense.
In December 1955, Zhang Aiping participated in the study and formulation of the national science and technology long-term plan by the Science Planning Committee of the State Council, and has since entered the door of national defense construction. Zhang Aiping, who had just attended the meeting, had no confidence in her heart, after all, she did not understand science and technology at all, how could she participate in such an important meeting?
Chen Yi explained: "I discussed with Mr. Peng for a long time, and then it was decided that you would attend the meeting, you are in charge of the equipment, and you have been leading troops on the front line for many years, only you are the most suitable, so it is determined!" ”
After attending the meeting, Zhang Aiping led a delegation to visit the Soviet Union, and sought the latter's strong support for the mainland in the fields of atomic bombs, ballistics and aerospace.
But the good times did not last long, just when all the work entered a critical moment, Sino-Soviet relations deteriorated, the Soviet Union unilaterally tore up the aid agreement, withdrew all experts and equipment in China, Zhang Aiping, then deputy director of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission and deputy director of the Industrial Office, was momentarily confused, and everyone did not know where the atomic bomb cause should go, and could it really accomplish this feat with the strength of the Chinese.
Figure | Chen Yi
Chen Yi said in front of everyone, "Chinese even if you take your pants, you still have to get the atomic bomb out!" ”
Subsequently, Chen Yi found Zhang Aiping alone and said: "Don't be busy drawing conclusions, investigate the progress and basic situation of the atomic energy industry clearly!" ”
Zhang Aiping said helplessly: "I only know camellia eggs, I don't know an atomic bomb!" ”
Chen Yi was so angry after hearing this that he scolded, "Don't you understand that you can't learn?" Who is born? ”
Zhang Aiping bowed her head in shame after listening to it, and returned home to study the periodic table, physics, and chemical knowledge, of course, only he was useless to teach himself, even if he learned the Year of the Monkey, Ma Yue could not build an atomic bomb. Although Zhu Guangya is the deputy director of the Nuclear Weapons Research Institute, he is very young, only 37 years old, and he sees Zhang Aiping, who is the deputy director of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, personally go to the door to ask for advice, and his heart is naturally shaken.
He hurriedly poured water for Zhang Aiping's tea and prepared to report on the progress of the work, Zhang Aiping replied with a smile after listening: "I am not here to listen to your report on the work, I specially came to ask you for advice!" ”
Looking at Zhu Guangya's expression of disbelief, Zhang Aiping continued: "It's true, please tell me about the principle of the atomic bomb, I only know camellia eggs and eggs, but I know very little about the atomic bomb, and it is difficult to fiddle if you don't understand it!" ”
Zhu Guangya admired Zhang Aiping's learning spirit, from the surface and inside, from shallow to deep for the latter to explain carefully, when encountering places that do not understand, Zhu Guangya will also take physical examples, in the days to come, Zhang Aiping's theoretical level soared, he is well aware of the difficulty of atomic bomb development, to all the experts involved in the development of the development said: "You boldly go to work, do not have scruples, success, the results are yours, failure, the responsibility is mine!" ”
On the vast Gobi Desert, the conditions are very harsh, the climate is harsh, the materials are scarce, the water resources are scarce, and often after a wind and sand, the experts pile up sand in their rice bowls, and after filtering out some sand, they have to eat it together with the meal.
In order to supplement the nutrition of everyone, Zhang Aiping's wife Li Youlan often spent money to send some fruits and vegetables, Zhang Aiping was pleased with his wife's kind deeds, but he did not leave a little vegetables and fruits himself, all of which were given to the experts in the base.
Figure | Lee Youlan
In order to give full play to the enthusiasm of experts, Zhang Aiping established a "two command lines" system, the administrative command line is mainly responsible for doing a good job in organizational support, and the technical command line is "picked by the experts".
After several years of hard work, the development of the atomic bomb progressed smoothly, and in September 1964, it entered the preparations for the test explosion, and before the test, Premier Zhou specially summoned Chen Yi, He Long, Zhang Aiping, and other comrades who were specially responsible for the development of the atomic bomb to Beijing to hold a special committee meeting.
Premier Zhou said slowly with a serious face: "Comrades, the atomic bomb development work has been successfully completed, and now it is time to reach the most critical test explosion stage, Chairman Mao has agreed to carry out a nuclear test explosion in October, the time is passing a little bit, the issue of secrecy is not trivial, if we say it early, others will come to bomb us, then all our preliminary work is empty of bamboo baskets, I hope that you will not be excited to say it after you go back, comrade Deng Yingchao, although he is my wife, is a member of the Central Committee, but I did not say anything that should not be said. She doesn't know that we're doing a nuclear test yet, and I mean it so clearly that no one who should know the secret can't know! ”
After the meeting of the special committee, all the relevant personnel left the scene one after another, only Zhang Aiping stayed, and reported to Premier Zhou: "Premier, I hope you will give me a leave, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has temporarily arranged a foreign affairs activity for me, just tonight!" I'm ready to go now! ”
Premier Zhou asked, "Do you have the documents for the atomic bomb test with you?" ”
Zhang Aiping replied frankly: "No! ”
Premier Zhou said, "Please take your clothes out of your pocket and see if there are any missing notes!" ”
Zhang Aiping had to do just that, only pulling out a small note of the foreign affairs activity process, premier Zhou said: "Comrade Aiping, if you are familiar with this process, you can directly dispose of it, from now on, it is best not to carry words on the paper!" Also, you remind other comrades involved in the development of nuclear weapons not to participate in foreign affairs activities in the near future! ”
It can be seen that Premier Zhou is cautious and subtle, always abides by principles in the face of state secrets, and does not touch the red bottom line, which makes people sincerely admire!
On October 16, 1964, over Lop Nur in Xinjiang, the first atomic bomb on the mainland was successfully tested, the huge fireball and mushroom cloud of atomic fission rose into the Gobi Desert, Zhang Aiping and others raised their hands to celebrate, and after calming down, Zhang Aiping called Premier Zhou: "Premier, we have become, the mushroom cloud has risen, and the atomic bomb has successfully exploded!" ”
Figure | Atomic bomb explosion
Premier Zhou said excitedly: "The party and the country are proud of you, the people thank you, and on behalf of the party central committee, I congratulate all scientific research workers!" ”
At present, it seems that the atomic bomb explosion took a short time and the deterrent effect was obvious, but Zhang Aiping encountered many setbacks during this period; in his view, the atomic bomb project is a very large chassis, and many things need to be attached to various departments of the national economy.
However, the military industry and military scientific research are composed of three parts: the army, the national defense industry department and the national defense research institute, which are under the jurisdiction of the two major systems of the army and the State Council, led by He Long, Luo Ruiqing and Nie Rongzhen respectively.
Too many institutions will inevitably reduce work efficiency, so these three people respectively appointed Zhang Aiping as the deputy director of the three departments in order to better coordinate the work, deng Xiaoping also specially instructed Zhang Aiping: "You should pay attention to Oh, don't let the two old marshals, Boss He and Boss Nie, fight!" ”
Zhang Aiping believes that although she is the deputy director of the three departments, there is never an independent competent department, which is not enough to take the lead and dominate the overall situation. So he proposed to Chairman Mao to set up a special central committee after consulting with several veteran marshals, and Chairman Mao felt that this proposal was very good, and specially issued documents, and the work after that progressed rapidly.
Later, due to external reasons, he "walked down" from the front of the stage, and during the National Day in 1974, he reappeared in front of everyone, and Song Shilun, then president of the Academy of Military Sciences, specially invited Zhang Aiping to come home as a guest, and said slowly: "I heard Ye Shuai say that the Central Military Commission has decided to let you come out to work again, and I am the first to name you!" ”
A few days later, Ye Jianying personally came to see Zhang Aiping, who felt great honor, and Ye Jianying asked: "Song Shilun has already asked me to go to the Academy of Military Sciences, and I want you to return to the National Defense Science and Technology Commission. ”
Zhang Aiping pointed to her left leg and said, "My leg is still being treated, and it still doesn't work!" ”
Ye Jianying patted him on the shoulder and said, "Comrade Ai Ping, not only the reason for your legs, I know that you have suffered a lot of grievances in recent years, but I hope you consider the national situation, you still come out to work as soon as possible, the National Defense Science and Technology Commission needs you!" ”
Zhang Aiping still prevaricated, Ye Jianying whispered: "I hope you think about it again, if the legs are really inconvenient, you can work half a day or even an hour or two every day, it is not a secret, this time to test shoot a returnable satellite, but it only took off for a few tens of seconds to crash!" ”
Zhang Aiping's eyes widened and asked, "What is the reason?" ”
Ye Jianying said, "They said it was a wire that wasn't connected!" ”
Figure | Ye Jianying
Zhang Aiping said angrily, "This is really nonsense! ”
Ye Jianying shook his hands and said, "Not only me, but also Comrade Xiaoping, we are all waiting for you!" ”
It was not until March 1975 that Zhang Aiping and others recovered slightly before they made a comeback and served as the director of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, actively carrying out work under very difficult circumstances.
The first thing he did when he took office was not to report to the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, but to the Seventh Machine Department, found the relevant person in charge and said: "Why do we have to grab time, which means that we have lost too much precious time before, we need to spend a lot of effort to catch up, we must work hard in a few years, and everyone can only come up with effective results by working together!" ”
After returning to the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, Zhang Aiping proposed to the crowd that "we must come up with the 'killer weapon' in weapons and equipment as soon as possible, and led the formulation and organization of the development plan for advanced weapons and equipment such as intercontinental missiles, submarine-to-ground missiles, and communication satellites.
The success of the satellite launch is of extraordinary significance, and Japan's "Asahi Shimbun" wrote on the front page: "The launch significance of the 'Jianbing' satellite is far-reaching and lasting, it marks the approaching of China's intercontinental ballistic missile test and actual combat deployment, and at the same time speaking to the two superpowers of the United States and the Soviet Union, that is, China's influence is different from the past, and it is a pivotal existence!" ”
In March 1977, Ye Jianying asked Xu Liqing, deputy director of the General Political Department, to invite Zhang Aiping to return to the National Defense Science and Technology Commission to continue to support the work, but without suspense, he was rejected three times.
Ye Jianying was impatient to find Zhang Aiping again, raised his voice and shouted: "What is wrong with you, many times I have asked you to preside over the work, you have not come, so do not support my work?" ”
Zhang Aiping said an emotional word: "My health is getting worse and worse, and I am not suitable for work anymore, Ye Shuai, it is not that I do not support your work!" ”
Ye Jianying soothed his emotions: "Comrade Ai Ping, I know what kind of person you are, you will never give up halfway, as long as you want to do something, there is nothing that cannot be done, I think that when you, a dry duck, also set up a naval force, you knew nothing about the national defense industry and also made an atomic bomb, how can such a capable person give up lightly, our country is now in a period of rectification, and we can catch up with the developed countries by grasping construction, which also requires you to go out of the horse!" ”
Figure | Zhang Aiping
Zhang Aiping saw that Ye Shuai's words were so sincere and sincere, agreed to his request and talked about his views on the direction of future wars: "Future wars are not like the past, it will be an unprecedented three-dimensional war, we have lagged behind the developed countries in Europe and the United States by 20 or 30 years, in today's society, without a modern army, without the Trinity nuclear counterattack force, real peace cannot be achieved!" ”
Ye Shuai listened and nodded his head, and specially arranged for Zhang Aiping's old friend Li Yaowen to serve as the political commissar of the National Defense Science and Technology Commission; with Li Yaowen's cooperation, Zhang Aiping worked like a tiger, and he first proposed to complete a series of key tasks such as intercontinental ballistic missiles and submarine-launched missiles by the early 1980s and fight a good war of annihilation in the field of national defense.
In May 1980, he successfully organized and directed the launch of China's first intercontinental missile, which greatly improved the mainland's nuclear strategic deterrent and attracted many countries to take the initiative to show goodwill to the mainland. In September, Zhang Aiping became vice premier of the State Council, presided over the National Defense Science and Technology Commission, the National Defense Industry Office, and established the National Defense Science and Technology Industry Committee.
In 1982, the mainland's first successful submarine missile nuclear test was successful, further complementing the Trinity nuclear strike capability, and in November of the same year, he became defense minister, thus becoming the first founding general to serve as defense minister.
Comrade Zhang Aiping is indeed "an alternative in the Communist Party", he is still very concerned about the construction of the party, the state and the army after retiring from the 13th National Congress, actively participating in social welfare activities, and his life has made indelible contributions to the cause of peace in China!